A Spirit of Meekness

The meek are not the impotent, nor are they the timid and mousy ones. They are the strong ones who have been broken to harness, gentled by the Lord and His Spirit, and made fit for the Lord’s use.^[1]

On a recent post on our Facebook page, in which the topic of Christian dominion was mentioned, someone commented, “Hopefully the dominion of the righteous doesn’t include my demise.” Although the individual was likely jesting, it’s only because that idea is a common one. It’s the silly conspiracy theory surrounding “Christian theocracy”—that Christians are politically-driven to create a despotic rule of Christian clerics who will replace democracy with Biblical law and begin punishing the evildoers. There is a reason for this misconception.

Initially, most critics are statists whose primary desire is that their party be in power. Therefore, they assume that Christian Reconstructionists are equally statist and power-driven. Granted, many on the Religious Right may hold the view that politics is the quickest way to social transformation, but we do not. Having said that, Christians are not to be walked on either, but many will assume that demeanor citing the command to be meek.

Therefore, if Christian Reconstructionists espouse dominion, then they cannot be meek, because the two ideas don’t go together. Dominionism is misconstrued as aggressive, arrogant, and harsh, and that is a far cry from the model of “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.”

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls. ~ Matthew 11:29

It is true that our Lord is meek and lowly in heart, but He is also the conquering King, so the ideas of dominion and meekness find their harmony in Christ. Therefore, the characteristic of meekness is by no means contradictory to dominion, i.e., godly government in every sphere of life. Rushdoony explains it succinctly:

As Christ used the term meekness, it meant, not the surrender of dominion, but rather the wise, merciful, and gracious use of dominion. We cannot understand the meaning of meekness in Scripture unless we realize that it is not the surrender of dominion but rather the humble and godly use of dominion that it has reference to. The blessed meek are the tamed of God, those harnessed to His law-word and calling, who shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). The blessed meek are those who submit to God’s dominion, have therefore dominion over themselves, and are capable of exercising dominion over the earth. They therefore inherit the earth.^[2]

When Christ calls all souls to Himself saying to take His yoke, learn of Him, and find rest, it’s only because Christ has dominion. It’s because Christ is powerful. He has the life-giving resources of spiritual rest. That very same power could judge and destroy us, but instead our Lord offers His life to us in meekness. In short, His power is restrained for love for us. That is meekness, and His reward is dominion through regenerated souls who then go exercise His dominion and meekness.

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:1–2)

Do you want to exercise Christian dominion? Then begin with bearing burdens as Christ did and thereby fulfill His law. You can do this because you are empowered by God’s Spirit to do so, however, unlike our Lord, we must keep watch on our attitude. For us, a spirit of meekness means we identify with those whose burdens we carry knowing we could easily be burdened with the same sin or sorrow.

The Greek word for restore used in Galatians 6:1 is katartizo, and it means “to mend, to furnish completely.” Vines mentions that the tense of the word used by the apostle “is the continuous present, suggesting the necessity for patience and perseverance in the process.”^[3] Can we expand this idea from the church to the world?

Within the church, restoration of our sinful brothers and sisters is to be done in a spirit of meekness. In the world, the restoration—i.e., reconstruction—is to also be done in a spirit of meekness. The apostle is clearly showing that the persons involved in the work of restoration can easily assume an arrogant position, therefore, meekness is required.

The rigorous work of Christian dominion and reconstruction requires continuous patience and perseverance while maintaining a spirit of meekness.

There’s an old saying that goes, “meekness is not weakness,” and that’s true. Our humility should not equate to our abandonment of society to hide within our prayer closets and churches. To be meek does not mean that we allow the ungodly to exercise dominion while we remain on the margins submissive to their ungodly rule. Far from it. The meek, our Lord said, shall inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). Rushdoony wrote,

To “inherit the earth” must be taken seriously and literally. Only those who are harnessed by God’s Spirit to His law-word have the stable, disciplined, and Spirit-governed capacity to rule the earth. The calling of Christ’s saints is to judge or govern the earth.^[4]

Rushdoony uses very strong language here. Are we harnessed by God’s Spirit? Do we exercise a Spirit-governed capacity to rule God’s earth? If not, then it’s clear where our work must begin. First with ourselves, followed by the church, and then to the world.

This means we must submit ourselves daily to the work of the Word and the Spirit as we are discipled by the Lord to become His rulers on the earth. If we desire meekness, let us go the One who knows how to truly equip us:

We are made meek by the Spirit, and broken to harness, in order to be usable by Him, and to rule in Him.^[5]

At Chalcedon, we want us all to grow in dominion, righteousness, service, and meekness. Christian character is as important to this ministry as any other aspect of Christian Reconstruction. It’s easy to be provoked to anger by a rebellious world and a compromised church, but it’s our patient perseverance in a spirit of meekness that shall overturn our critics, extend our message, and preserve our mission. Please help us continue that by donating to Chalcedon today.

^[1] R. J. Rushdoony, The Sermon on the Mount (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2009), p. 21.

^[2] R. J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1973), p. 450.

^[3] W.E. Vine, The Expanded Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1984), p. 962.

^[4] Rushdoony, Sermon on the Mount, p. 22.

^[5] ibid.